Show preventive MEASURES ONLY successful METHOD KNOWN TO CONTROL WIREWORMS the dryland dry land wireworm ites noelus nox lus a adult b ata c un der dep surface of head of larva d side of last segment of larva a b enlarged c a more enlarged prepared by tho the united states department of 0 agriculture I 1 cu it ure Wire wireworks wireworms worms are especially destructive to seed corn in the ground and to the young corn and wheat plants they work entirely underground and are nin among ong the most difficult to control of all tile the insect foes that afflict the farm e cr r much may bo be done however to 1 lessen essen their ravages by careful tillage drainage proper rotation or of crops etc are the young of the common snapping beetles br click beetles and the worms are yellowish or brownish highly liolis polished hed and slippery to the touch they move actively and disappear r rap rapidly tIly when brought to tho the r surface by the plow or spade tho the eggs are arc laid in the ground usually in sod lands where the young worms are hatched it takes three years for roost most kinds of wire wireworks wireworms worms to get their full growth anti to become beetles remedies for Wire wireworks wireworms worms the most successful method tor for the control of wire wireworks wireworms worms are cultural in ili nature it having been found impossible or at least impracticable to polson them by any known means where it Is proposed to plant sod land 0 to o corn the following year to prevent wireworm injury tile the land and should le be plowed immediately after the first hay cutting usually early in july and should be cultivated deeply during the rem remainder of the summer lend land already lit in corn which Is badly inces infested led should be cultivated deeply even at the risk of slightly root pruning the corn this should be continued BS as long as the corn can be cultivated and as soon no as the crop Is removed the field should be tilled thoroughly before it Is sown to wheat rn in regions where wheat la Is seeded down for hay any treatment of infested nelds fields Is precluded where the wheat Is not followed by seeding to other corps the fields should be plowed ns as soon no as the wheat Is harvester har vestel tills this kills the worms by destroying their food supply and preventing the them 1 in from preparing suitable sleeping quarters for the winter A thorough preparation of corn land and a liberal use of barnyard man mahurd ron nura urd or other fertilizer Is recommended and a vigorous stand may bo a produced sometimes in spite of the wireworks wireworms wire worms by such treatment wherever practicable the interposing of crops not got severely attacked by such ng as field pens liens or buckwheat between sod and corn tends tenda materially to reduce the number of in the soil some kinds of live only in badly drained land and for this renson thorough tile draining of such fields Is often very beneficial especially where the general condition of tho fields Is improved by proper applications of lima and thorough cultivation in the northwest and bor northern thern arild dle die west the dry lahm iaal wireworm ale plc burrd above Is very injurious tho foil following owing methods have been found to be valuable in the elimination ot of this pest 1 disk or drag harrow the summer follow fallow as early as possible in tile spring in ili order to produce ft a dust mulch tin and thereby conserve tile accumulated winter moisture 2 continue the disking as ai often as Is necessary in order to maint maintain nin the mulch and keep down tho the weeds 3 biow the summer fallow in july or early in august and immediately drag 4 plow the stubble as soon lis as the crop Is removed avoid fresh sod ta donot not plant grain an and d especially corn on freshly fres lily broken sod land it if this can bo be avoided to tie do so exposes it to almost certain injury by wire worms cutworms cut worms and white grubs plant such land first to soy benns beans cowpeas cow peas clover alfalfa fri or buckwheat afterwards afterward rotating to in grain tho the growing of any ones one kind of grain on the some same land continuously Is su cureto reto result in damage from insect pests and Is bad agricultural practice adopt a good system of crop rotation suitable to your particular region if you do riot not know the most approved system of rotation for your locality ask your county agricultural agent or experiment station for advice |